The Marauders and Us
by Padfoot R
Summary: My First Fanfic, so please read! JPLE, SBOC, RLOC. A year at Hogwarts, one year to fall in and out of love, one year to have fun before dreadful things start happening. R&R please! About 1015 chapters in all, I think...
1. Chapter 1 : Back to Hogwarts again

Chapter One : Back to Hogwarts Again.

Here we finally were. King's Cross, Platform 9 and ¾. For the sixth time, I would be with my friends Hannah, Shona, Lily and my best friend ever, Anne for a whole school year, along with all those other students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizerdry. I felt great.

**As we were a good ten minutes early, I put my trunk on the Hogwarts Express and went back to say good-bye to my mother. She's the witch in our family, but when Dad found out, he didn't want to live with us anymore. I missed him before but now I realise he bas just a jerk. And besides, I've still got Mum, who is really nice and always there for us, and my sister Lizzy who is going to Hogwarts this year ! **

**She was already saying good-bye to Mum. I walked over to them and put my hand on Lizzy's shoulder.**

**' –be good, don't work ****too**** hard, tell me when you get detention-' Mum was fussing over Lizzy. 'You've got two spare robes, Wonky will be just fine in the Owlery…' Wonky is Liz's new iwk. Mum bought us both pets when we left for Hogwarts (I have beatiful cat name Snuffles) because she's allergic to animals. She finally finished lecturing and hugged us. Hard.**

**'Go on. I know you're dying to get back with Anne. Get a good seat Lizzy, and most of all : have a good time.' She kissed us and we both leapt on to the train. I started searching for Hannah, Shona, Lily and Anne – we had said we'd meet up and have a compartement to ourselves. However, before I saw any of them, I stumbled across the Four Inseparables : James Potter, madly in love with Lily since second year, Remus Lupin, a nice quiet prefect along side Lily, Peter Pettigrew, a pathetic chubby boy, and best of all, Sirius Black, the guy nearly every girl dreams of. Yes, including me.**

**As I hurridly shut the door to their compartement, James yelled at me :**

**' Hey wait a minute Martins !' I opened the door again.**

**' What is it ****Potter ****?'I liked James OK, but it bugged me the way he called everybody by their surname. But he took the hint and smiled.**

**'Where's Evan-I mean, Lily ? 'he asked hopefully.**

**'No idea. I was looking for her. We're going to spend the train journey together.' I said, trying to make him see Lily didn't want to spend it with him.**

**' Oh. Well, we might pass by. Lily might have changed her mind about going out with me.' James stated hopefully.**

**' I doubt it,' I smirked,' she never did over the other summers.' I watched with pleasure as James went red and the others laughed, my stomach do a back flip as Sirius laughed… at my joke ! Once they stopped, I decided to go.**

**'See you around, Inseperables !' I slammed the sliding door shut and went to find the girls. James hollered after me :**

**'Hey hey Martins ! Tell Evans I love her … and say hello for me !' I rolled my eyes and kept moving.**

**I soon found them near the front of the train. I sat myself down, put my travelling bag down and stuck my head out the window. It was 10 :57. I sighed and sat down opposite Shona. Grinning, I inquiered about her summer.**

**'Oh, it was okay.' She said roughly, running her hand through her beautiful brown curls. I raised my eyebrows, making her giggle.**

**'Okay, it was the pits. My mum and dad don't understand that I can get a great wizard job. They … I dunno, they must think it's all just fun.' She sighed and I tried to look sympathetic. Shona's parents are Muggles and, unlike Lily's, they don't like the idea of her becoming part of the wizarding world…**

**The conductor blew his whistle and I stuck my head out the window again, and at the same moment Lily ran through the door, puffing and closely followed by Anne. We four stuck our heads out the window and waved good-bye to our parents, siblings and London station in general. By the time the train actually made it out the station, we were all laughing like crazy people.**

**We flopped down on to our seats as Hannah came through the sliding door, looking quite shocked. We greeted her by yelling 'Hannah !' at her, so maybe her expression was really quite justified.**

**'Hey ! ' I said, to try to stop her leaving immeadiatly, 'How come you're late.' She opened her mouth and sat down on my travelling bag before I could stop her. The was a loud 'MRAAWWW !' and she jumped up.**

**'Sorry, sorry… Snuffles is in there… I lost his cage over the summer.' I snatched my bag from under her behind and opened it. A black cat slinked out and came willingly into my arms.**

**'Okay, so, why were you late ?'**

**'I was ambushed by the Inseperables.' Lily rolled her eyes in time with Anne and I.**

**'Not you too !' We both exclaimed. Everyone burst out laughing.**

**'Yeah, James sends his love as always, Lily.' I confirmed. Anne and Hannah nodded, giggling.**

**'When is he going to understand ?'**

**'He's not that bad Lily. Honestly, a guy with eyes only for you ! What more could you want ?'**

**'One that isn't an arrogent berk 24 hours out of 24.'**

**We all agreed to this and started talking about the Four Inseperables, after a while about our OWL results, and other things amongst the laughter. I learnt that Shona had decided to keep going despite her parent's disencouragements. Hannah had failed one OWL that she needed to become a dragon-tamer, so she was going to pass again. Anne was all set to get a job in Diagon Ally in Madam Malkins but Lily and I still had no clue what to become. Well, okay, my dream was to be a Chaser for England, but it was just a dream.**

**The lunch trolly came and went, leaving us with light money bags and millions of wizard sweets. Soon after that though, James and Sirius sauntered through the compartement door. The only free seats were… Oh man ! Next to me and next to Lily. James automatically sat down next to Lily and put his arm around her, leaving Sirius to slouch next to me. He grinned an impish grin at me and looked around at James, who trying for the five hundredth and seventeenth time to get Lily to go out with him.**

**'So Evan-Lily, nice summer holidays ?' He inquiered politly. Lily tried to shrug his arm off, with no success and replied :**

**'Fine, fine. All day long insulting with my sister, and letters from you. How the hell did you find out where I lived ?'**

**'A brilliant owl. Peter doesn't like him though, does he Paddy ?' Padfoot was James's name for Sirius, and Prongs was James. I had no idea where these absurd names came from, nor did I care.**

**Sirius rolled his eyes and winked at me. I could feel my heart melting.**

**'Nope. Say Prongsie, how many girls did you try go out with this summer ?'**

**'Just one,' He anwered, looking for Lily's reaction. When she showed absolutly no feelings, he continued, 'This one right here. What about you ?' Sirius tried unsuccessfully to look ashamed of himself.**

**'I went out with no less than eleven girls. At the same time.'**

**Everybody scowled. Hannah stood up, and said :**

**'Hey, James, Sirius, could I talk to you a second ? Outside ?' She gave them such a pleading look that they both complied and walked out the door, looking puzzled. I exchanged worried glances with Lily. Hannah was renouned for her short temper.**

**She lingered at the door frame, then jumped back in, slammed the door and yelled :**

**'Colloportus !' The two boys were locked outside ! We all screamed with laughter. Sirius and James looked at each other, shrugged and decided to go back to Remus and Peter.**

**The train ride finished in (almost compleate) silence. Everyone was reading a book, except Hannah, who was studying, to everyone's utter surprise.**

**As they got out of the train, bags in their hands, trying to find a carriages. Suddenly Shona shrieked and pointed to the front of the carriage.**

**'It's … it's visible !' We all stared at her. Since when had Shona seen someone die ? **

**Read and Review please ! This is my first fanfic so I NEED to know what you think !**

**Most characters belong to JKRowling, as do the settings.**

**Thanks to the people who leant me their name, Hannah Steffox, Shona Candel, Anne Kennedy and Nelly Martin. **


	2. Chapter 2 : The Feast

**Ch****apter 2 : The Feast.**

**Lily put a hand on her friend's shoulder. Hannah looked truly terrified at the sight of the lengedary winged, skinless horses. She glanced away. I followed her look and saw the Four Inseperables coming our way. I silently begged to go away. We didn't need four – okay three, no, two – prats coming to boast.**

'**I'm sorry. I can't tell you why. I should've just pretended that nothing was there. I – they – during the summer – at my cousins…' Hannah was talking nonsense, so Lily took her in her arms, trying to confort her. Hannah's sobs gradually died away, and we got into the carriage. To my relief, the Inseperables went into the carriage behind us, probably encouraged by Lily's glares.**

**The Thestrals rode up to the castle silently. The moon was barely visible because of the clouds, though it wasn't raining.**

'**Doesn't it look just great ?' Anne said, nodding towards the castle. I smiled at her, realising she was trying to change the conversation a little.**

'**Yeah, it just as wonderful as in first year… Imagine, we've only got two years left…' I stated. It seemed Shona had also caught on.**

'**I think we should study less this year !' When we all looked at her funny, she added : **

'**What ? It's our before last year, next year we have exams… Personnaly I think we should challenge the Inseperables… Think of all the fun we could have !' I had to agree whole-heartedly to this. Why waste an exam-free year ?**

**The carriages slowly pulled in next to the Hogwart's Entrance. I gazed up at the huge door, wondering who on earth could have built it. We jumped down from their seats and stood, waiting for McGonagall to open the door. Or some one.**

**Finally, Professor Kettleburn turned up, pushing the doors with all his might. He beckoned to us and we followed him to the Great Hall. After several minutes, the tiny first years came, looking scared. I couldn't blame them. Sirius was pretending to kill James.**

**The sorting passed, uneventful. My sister unfortunatly went into Hufflepuff. The first years ALL looked like annoying little squirts, ready to make trouble. After ever single student was sitting at his or her house table, Dumbledore stood up.**

'**My friends, welcome ! Welcome back to those who have been here before. I know those are the ones who are most impatient for me to finish-'**

'**Too true,' muttered Sirius.**

'**-for reasons that will be obvious in a moment. I would first of all like you welcome our new teacher, Professor Beijum, who will be occupying the post of Defence Against the Dark Arts.'**

**A polite round of applause was heard. Professor Beijum was short, so short it took me a while to realise he was standing up. He looked Asian, but still wore Europeen clothes. He sat back down again, and Dumbledore continued his speech.**

'**I must remind you again, that the Forbidden Forest is forbidden –' I could have sworn I saw McGonagall roll her eyes. '-as is Hogsmead to the younger students and those who have not aquiered permission.' He glanced towards Sirius, and I felt really sorry for him. Not that he didn't sneak out everytime anyway. 'Now for some news. This year, the school staff have decided to organise a Winter Ball, not unlike the Yule Ball for those who have heard of it. The heads of houses will choose two students from each House to organise it together. This will be a moment of peace between ennemies, love between friends and serenty between Houses.' He paused and decided to finish up. 'That will be all for now. Tuck in !' Mountains of food appeared on the table, to the amusement of the first years and relief to the others. James and Sirius immeadiatly started grabbing anything and everything, piling as much as possible onto their plates, then shoving into their mouths. Remus was watching them, disusted by his friends, putting down his fork of mashed potatoe.**

'**Honestly, doesn't Mrs Potter know how to cook ? Was there a famin in your house ? What ?' James shrugged.**

'**M Mum dothent cok like dish. Ith hokey bu' no' dish goo'.' James mangaged to say. Sirius nodded enthusiastically, not actually being able to open his mouth without food falling out of it. Remus glanced at me and rolled his eyes. I giggled at all of them. They were such dorks sometimes, but they could also be pretty sweet.**

'**Hey Jam- Prongsie !' I called across the table, his eyes practially popping out of their sockets when I called him that, ' When's Quidditch start again ?' James was on the Gryffindor Quidditch team with me and a Chaser as well. He swollowed loudly and answered almost immeadiatly. If James liked anything as much as Lily, it was Quidditch.**

'**We need a new Seeker. I thought tryouts on Wednesday night, if everyone's free.'**

'**How on earth do you know that ?' I wondered, marvelled at the Captain – player information relay.**

''**Cause I'm the new captain, that's why. Didn't I say ?' James answered. I was surprised, but then again, James was the best player on the team. I could tell he had been dying for someone to ask him.**

'**Hey, well done ! Are you going to keep the same team as last year ?' I asked, suddenly worried.**

'**Don't worry. You could play for England !' Sirius stated, making my heart jump. Why were my cheeks so hot, so suddenly ? I managed to grin back at him, saying :**

'**Thanks.'**

**The desserts suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Everybody started helping themselves to large portions, when the caretaker Argus Filch hopped through the doors and tried to sprint up to the teachers table. He whispered something to Dumbledore, making obvious attemps to not let any students hear. These attemps were completely useless, as Dumbledore stood up and adressed the whole school :**

'**Mr Filch has just informed me that several creatures have just broken into the castle. As these creatures can harm you, we would ask the prefects to lead their Houses up to the common room. Please take the food you would like to your common rooms and expect to be able to attend classes normally tomorrow morning.'**

**He sat down and Lily and Remus sprang up, shouting to the first years. There was a river of Gryffindors, and I found myself caught up on it, a piece of spongecake in my hand. I looked around for Anne, Hannah and Shona, and saw them craming as much food onto their plates as possible. I shook my head at them and made my way back up to the Gryffindor common room. I went through the portrait-hole only to be pushed by Peter, who was not looking where he was going, but instead listening to Sirius and James.**

'**-could be a Chimera –' Sirius broke off abrubtly as he saw me listening. He flashed a grin at me and I crawled through the portrait hole.**

**I sat down on the sofa next to the fire before anyone else could and stared deep into the fire's flames. I wondered what my sister was doing now… **

**To my great astonishment, Sirius sat down on my left and James on my right. I stared at them suspiciously… It wasn't like them.**

'**What. Do. You. Want.' I asked louder than I had intended.**

'**Well –' Said Sirius.**

'**-We were just wondering-' completed James.**

' – **If you knew where Lily and Remus were.'**

**I groaned, spotting the perfected art of speaking together. Please don't ask me how they do it, but it's a) amazing b) annoying and c) very disturbing. I sighed and realised I hadn't seen any of my friends so far. This worried me slightly but I pushed it to the back of my head, wanting to enjoy a conversation with James and Sirius. I've said it before, they may be full of trouble and arrogence, but they really are good fun and good people. Deep down. When it comes to Severus Snape, very deep down …**

'**I might. I might know a bit more if you stopped talking to me like that…' I said with an air of menace.**

'**Ok we'll –'**

'**-Stop it.' I scoweled and waited for them to stop grinning stupidly. I mentally took back all I had said earlier.**

'**Ok, tell us what you know and we'll be good boys.' James smiled as serenly as he could.**

'**Ok. Good boys. I know nothing.' I smirked at their obvious dissapointement. To my relief they stayed there.**

'**So… Basically –'**

'**-Your friends have vanished-'**

'**-you aren't drunk-'**

'**-or sick-'**

'**-but you still don't care.' Finished James. I was starteled at his words then I realised that they were quite true. I didn't think anything could happen to them.**

'**They're probably just stuffing their faces with cake. Anyway, I want to see if I can have a sane conversation with you two.' The way I said it made it sound like a dare.**

**And to my surprise, we had a perfectly normal conversation for over an hour. We talked about the new teacher, the monster that was now loose in the castle, a bit about Quidditch untill Sirius moaned at us to shut up and finally Lily.**

'**Come on Nellie, tell me what's wrong. Why doesn't she like me ?' James ran a hand distractedly through his already very messy hair.**

'**Well I don't know.' I swollowed, feeling guilty. James did love Lily, you could tell it just by the way he said her name. Oh I wished Sirius, or any good-looking guy, felt that way about me…**

**'Yes you do. Please tell him,' Sirius pleaded, 'or else he'll never get over him and I'll be stuck with a love-struck, heart-broken, soppy Prongsie for the rest of my days.'**

**'I honestly don't know… But try being a bit more normal. And a bit less of a jerk. And –'**

**'Okay, okay, I get the idea.' James snapped, but smiled all the same. I got the feeling he had already asked Shona, Hannah and Anne this – and gotten exactly the same advice.**

**I badly stiffled a yawn. James's love would have to wait till tomorrow. I said good-night and went up the stairs to the girls dormitory three by three.**

**When I finally reached the sixth room dormitory, I pushed the door open and realised I hadn't given my friends a thought since James and Sirius had mentioned. **

**The dormitory was quiet. I stood there, thinking, and then in a panic I went around ripping the curtains of all the four-poster beds open. **

**They were sitting on Shona's bed in a circle, giggling about something. When they saw my frightened face, they all fell about laughing. I inquiered politly to what they were saying.**

'**Oh. Well, er…' Anne started, looking ashamed and a little apologetic.**

'**We were talking about –' attempted Hannah… I was wondering what the fuss was about.**

'**Sirius…' said Lily after a while, 'and … you.' I opened my mouth to say something quite rude, but most (un)fortunatly Anne cut across me.**

'**I didn't tell them, I swear ! But to tell the truth, it's a little obvious.' Everyone burst out laughing, including me, though I flet kind of embaressed. I didn't sit there drooling at him … Did I ?**

**I decided to drop it. Shaking my eyes and rolling my head – no sorry, shaking my head and rolling my eyes, I clambered into bed.**

**Love can do strange things to you, I thought before pulling the sheets over me. **


End file.
